Venezuela’s Message To Guyana “desist from incorporating third parties in the dispute”

Caracas, Feb 17 (Prensa Latina) Venezuela on Wednesday ratified the validity of the Geneva Agreement, which regulates the territorial dispute with Guyana over the Essequibo region, on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the signing of that pact.

In a communique, the Venezuelan Government reiterated the validity of the treaty as the only way to guarantee not only a practical and satisfactory solution to this dispute but also to overcome differences’ with the neighboring nation.

‘Venezuela has demonstrated its inalienable conviction for peace, friendship and genuine cooperation between fraternally linked countries that will coexist forever, as well as its unrestricted respect for all principles of International Law,’ the document indicated.

In this regard, the Venezuelan State underscored its commitment to finalizing friendly negotiations that will lead to the peaceful solution of the territorial dispute.

The text also urged the Government of Guyana to desist from incorporating third parties in the dispute, given geopolitical and geoeconomic interests that disturb bilateral relations and threaten regional peace.

Both nations claim sovereign rights over Guyana’s Essequibo region, on which Georgetown filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice.

Venezuela has repeatedly rejected the Court’s decision to declare itself competent to hear the appeal presented by Guyana in relation to the controversy and called for addressing the dispute through bilateral negotiations within the framework of the 1966 Geneva Agreement.

Venezuelan authorities expressed their rejection of the intentions to grant validity to the 1899 Arbitral Award, through which 159,000 square kilometers of territories west of the Essequibo River were granted to the control of the United Kingdom, the metropolis of the then colony of British Guiana.